Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume
E–7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972

135. Conversation Between President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security
Affairs (Kissinger),
Washington, May 26, 1971, 10:38–10:44 a.m.12

Washington, May 26,
1971, 10:38–10:44
a.m.

Kissinger: INDIRA GANDHI has written you a
letter.

Nixon: I know about—

Kissinger: Well, no. We should
answer it. Let me say one other thing.

Nixon: [unclear]

Kissinger: Well you can tell
her—you can use it to bring pressure on her not to take military action.
Also, I talked to the Pakistan Ambassador. He said that Yahya might appreciate a letter, which
would give him an excuse to answer all the things by saying, listing all
the things he's doing because he can't get any publicity here.

Nixon: No.

Kissinger: And conversely,
INDIRA GANDHI, I checked with
the Indian Ambassador, they're getting so devious now—

Nixon: She wants—

Kissinger: She would like to be
able to say that one result of her letter was—

Nixon: Yeah.

Kissinger: —that you've written
to Yahya. So everybody's happy.
The Pakistanis—

Nixon: But we don't say anything
against Yahya?

Kissinger: No, no. You just say
you hope the refugees will soon be able to go back to East Pakistan. He
will then reply to you that's exactly what he wants. I've got it all
arranged with the—

Nixon: Good. Go ahead.

Kissinger: —Embassy. Then you can
take credit. You can tell the Indians to pipe down—

Nixon: Yeah.

Kissinger: And we'll keep
Yahya happy.

Nixon: The Indians need—what they
need really is a—

Kissinger: They're such
bastards.

Nixon: A mass famine. But they
aren't going to get that. We're going to feed them—a new kind of wheat.
But if they're not going to have a famine the last thing they need is
another war. Let the goddamn Indians fight a war [unclear].

Kissinger: They are the most
aggressive goddamn people around there.

Nixon: The Indians?

Kissinger: Yeah.

Nixon: Sure.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes,
Recording of Conversation between Nixon and Kissinger, Oval Office, Conversation No. 505–4. No
classification marking. The editor transcribed the portion of the
conversation published here specifically for this volume.↩

Nixon and Kissinger discussed a letter that
had been received from Indian Prime Minister Gandhi and another to be sent to
Pakistani President Yahya.↩